My tutor!
by fallen-forgotten-faith
Summary: Pirika used to hate Ren. That was, until she realised only he could save her from failing math AGAIN. It's a bit funny to me as in haha funny...CHAPTER 4 REWRITTEN! FIC COMPLETE! YAY! 1 more chappie for the fans coming right up!
1. Help!

"Such a know-it-all," Pirika muttered under her breath, as yet again the teacher praised Tao Ren. He just smirked arrogantly, while his fan girls seated behind him ooh-ed and aah-ed in unison. She was sick of him, sick of all the jealous fan girls who hated anyone who even dared breathe around their idol, and therefore 'contaminating him', and sick of the stupid biased teachers. Besides, SHE was a more deserving student than he. "Pirika! Answer this question!" yelled the math torturer, also known as a teacher. She stood up, stared at the sum on the blackboard, and sheepishly grinned. Uh- ok, maybe not.

"I HATE HIM," she complained to her brother HoroHoro. "I mean, there are limits, you know. Too much boasting could kill him one day. He is SUCH AN IDIOT." HoroHoro shrugged. He didn't like the Chinese Shaman much either, but he was too hungry to care. "What's for lunch?" he asked lazily, as a loud grumble from his stomach confirmed his starved state. "You greedy pig, onii-chan, I'm talking to you! Whatever, we're not eating lunch today," she huffed threateningly. HoroHoro almost fell from his chair. "Noooooooooooooo!" he shrieked, pouncing on poor Pirika. "WE…MUST…EAT! We… must…eat…" he repeated faintly, as Pirika's face turned the same colour as her hair, and he loosened his grip on her. "Gomen nasai, " he apologized. She choked. "Never mind. I'll try and make some ramen for us both… but you've got to promise me you'll listen to whatever I say about that stupid Tao Ren."

After two minutes HoroHoro had completed his meal, but still had to listen to Pirika rant about the "Almighty Tao". He sighed. " The way you're going on and on about him, I'd almost think you like him," he pointed out. Pirika coughed. "Excuse me? That pathetic loser?" She almost screamed. HoroHoro winced. "I take that back," he mumbled. " Yes, you should. What do those girls see in him anyway… he's so … argh…" she grumbled, listing all his bad points. Or those she made up anyway.

The next morning, Pirika hated her math teacher even more. "I have come up with a fantastic way of helping the poorer students," announced the teacher, looking at Pirika. She rolled her eyes. " We shall assign one peer tutor to each weak pupil. I will now read the list of the pairs out. Tao Ren, you shall be tutoring… ah, Pirika." Wails of envy filled the class, as all the fan girls proceeded to stare me down. Tao Ren just shrugged. There was nothing he could do about it. However, nobody knew that Pirika was secretly cursing her math teacher in her mind.

Upon hearing this latest update on "That Infuriating Tao Ren", HoroHoro began to laugh uncontrollably. "Serves you right for not passing math," he smirked. Pirika placed her hands on her hips. "Right. By the way, there's no dinner tonight." HoroHoro instantly ceased all laughter. "WHAT?" "You heard me. I'm not in the mood to make ramen." She said hotly. "No! I take back what I said… " Moaned HoroHoro. She cocked her head sideways. "Well, maybe if you listen to me speak without interrupting," she murmured, and a deal was made.

It became a routine- each day, Pirika would come back home complaining about Tao Ren whilst HoroHoro pretended to listen, and then Pirika would threaten not to cook and he would plead her. Soon the tutoring had to start- and Pirika was counting down the days with dread. " We have to start soon," she moaned. "What's worse, he has to come over…"


	2. Coke

Hi you all! Thanks so much for the reviews! I would be happy with even 1 review… ha-ha… ok, um… let's see… I am infamous for short chapters. So apology inserted here… ah… read my profile to get to know the author (A.K.A me) better, ok? Here you go. I tried to make it long…

Two days passed and the teacher announced that tutoring sessions would be on Mondays and Fridays at the pupil's house. This announcement hardly calmed Pirika down. Whenever the doorbell rang, she'd freak out. "So soon?" she's shriek, paranoid of the doorbell chime. And when HoroHoro opened the door to reveal the postman, she would sigh. But on a Monday, it wasn't the postman in his blue uniform but rather, Tao Ren, looking bored. What was worse was the fact that it happened to be the one day Pirika had the courage to even touch the golden doorknob.

"AAK!" she exclaimed, realizing she was dressed in a Powerpuff Girls tee and home shorts. He glanced at her briefly, and then smirked. She blushed. Stupid Tao Ren. Always dressed so properly, you'd… you'd think he never wore embarrassing stuff even at home. " I'm here to teach you math," he stated in monotone. Pirika rolled her eyes. "I know. Are you going to come in or do I have to curtsy first?" she snapped. Tao Ren coolly stepped in and studied her living room. "Pretty good feng shui, " he murmured more to himself than to be heard.

Pirika smiled. "Really? Then why am I so bad at math?" she asked. Ren shrugged. " Good feng shui doesn't mean good BRAINS." He said, emphasizing on the word brains. Pirika huffed. Whatever. Stupid, idiotic, smarty-pants Tao. "Just sit there on the sofa and wait for me to get my books," she instructed, hurrying off to her room to get her stuff. Tao Ren snorted and plunked himself down on the couch. How long would he have to wait?

In actual fact, Pirika took only 2 minutes but it seemed like an eternity to Ren. He noticed (not intentionally) that she had changed into PROPER clothing, without hilarious designs. She seated herself beside him and flipped her textbook open. " Let's start," she cheerily announced. Half an hour later, she slammed the book shut. "ARGH! I JUST CAN'T DO THIS!" she yelled, getting off the sofa and storming into the kitchen. She appeared seconds later with two cans of coke, and practically threw one to Ren. "We're taking a nice, long break," she stated. He shrugged. He didn't mind. Pirika probably didn't get whatever he said just now anyway. There was a comfortable silence for a while, before Pirika spoke. "Hey, Ren," she quietly asked, " Do you like anybody?" Tao Ren laughed. It was short, but nevertheless it made Pirika grin. "Don't be idiotic, of course I don't." he replied nonchalantly. "Not even Ayame?" she prodded. Ayame was the prettiest, most popular girl in their level. Tao Ren almost spewed his coke, as he started to choke. (Author says: Hey, that rhymes!) "YOU kidding?" he snickered. " I wouldn't go out with her. I'd rather get beaten up by your brother."

Pirika didn't know why, but she beamed. " That's great!" she cried. "What's great?" he asked. " Me getting beaten up by your onii-chan?" Pirika's cheeks were flushed. "No, um… the fact that you don't like Ayame." She mumbled. " Like anybody cares," he snorted. Pirika thought about it. True, why DID she care? Goodness, she hated this guy to the core! It would hardly matter if he keeled over due to too much sugar intake right now. Well, of course, he'd be in her living room and she MIGHT be accused of purposely serving the coke to him and causing him to die. On second thought, that was impossible. " Yeah, nobody cares," she echoed. She stared at the math textbook again. " We… should start, I guess," she began. Tao Ren shrugged, and she reached for it, just at the same time Tao Ren reached for his can of coke, interestingly positioned beside the textbook. Somehow the coke spilled onto the textbook and some onto Pirika's lap. "OH!" she exclaimed. " I'll get the tissues," Ren said calmly, getting up slowly and strolling into the kitchen to grab some tissues. He came back, and helped to mop up the mess in the textbook. He noticed Pirika was scrubbing away furiously. " Need help?" he asked. Pirika threw her coke-soaked tissue onto the table in disgust. "I think so," she groaned. He just smirked as usual, snatched another tissue and patted the lake of coke on her lap gently. Pirika's face was on fire. Why…was…he…helping?

Oh yeah. She had asked him for his help. He seemed collected as usual, and she hated him for it. "Done," he announced, and stood up. " Got to go," he said. Pirika walked him to the door. " See you in school tomorrow," she waved. He nodded, and then left. "Bye," she whispered.


	3. avoidance

The next day, Pirika tried her best to avoid Tao Ren as much as she could. But fate kept pushing her towards him. First, they collided into each other in the hallway. Then, they were paired up in Chemistry. Third, her tight group of friends (who happened to be avid Ren- worshippers) pushed her towards him and she ended up having to apologize for crushing his baby toe. Finally, at the end of the day, just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, she slipped. And who should be there to catch her but the king of cool, Tao Ren. "Can't fight fate," he smirked. "Nani? What kind of fate is there to fight?" Pirika asked innocently, despite how hard her heart knocked against her ribcage. "Whatever. Ma…deyo!" he said, letting go of her. "Go where?" she inquired. "I'll treat you to lunch today. You're not in a hurry to go home, are you?" he asked. Pirika thought of HoroHoro and chewed on her bottom lip. "Well… HoroHoro might be starving…" she murmured. Tao Ren laughed. "Who cares? We'll get a doggy bag for him. Do you mind hurrying up?" he urged. Pirika shrugged. Poor onii-chan. Oh well, even if she DID choose to go home, she wasn't in the mood to cook anyway.

"This is yummy!" Pirika exclaimed, awkwardly clutching at her chopsticks and stabbing the pao (bun) with it. Tao Ren smiled. "Wo zhi dao ni yi ding hui xi huan de," he said in Chinese. Confusion was written clearly on Pirika's face. Not that she was an ignoramus, but just that she didn't KNOW Chinese. "I said I knew you would like it," he explained. She giggled. "It sounded like Greek to me." She admitted, this time poking an innocent chee cheong fun (rice and flour based flavored strips, lathered in sauce. Sorry, I'm bad at descriptions) and bringing it to her mouth. "Teach me a Chinese phrase," she begged, after gulping down the strip of chee cheong fun. Tao Ren smirked. "Say wo xiang fu qian," he ordered, and she did so. He started laughing. Pirika blushed. Was her pronunciation really that horrible? She asked him so and he shook his head. "You just said you wanted to pay the bill. You're welcome to do so." He stated. Pirika fumed. Idiot… he just tricked her into footing the bill…

After their meal, (which Ren eventually paid half for) they proceeded to window shop at the nearby mall, due to Pirika's sudden urge to browse for "cute stuff". "Hey Ren… why don't we watch a movie?" she suggested. He seemed to consider it for a while, and then nodded. "Sure. Which one do you want to see?" he asked. " Um…" Pirika thought about the available choices. There was Memoirs Of A Geisha. She'd read the book; and if the movie was as good as the novel, then she'd most definitely want to watch it. She put that movie as choice number one on her mental movie list. Number two was an action movie Tao Ren might enjoy. It was, according to the poster, Jet Li's last action movie. So that would be a good reason why they should watch it. The other movies weren't suitable for them to watch. "How about your chick flick?" Tao Ren teased. Pirika frowned at him. "It is NOT a chick flick! How could you insult it like that? It's a beautifully tragic yet romantic story…" she told him dreamily. He shrugged. "I'm fine with it." She smiled. "Great! Let's go!"

2 hours later, they emerged from the cinema hall, Pirika desperately wiping at her tears. Tao Ren was laughing. "It was so girly," he moaned, though with a grin on his face. Pirika hiccupped. " No, it was not. It was romantic. If only I could meet a guy like the Chairman…" she mused, whilst mopping up the last of her tears. Tao Ren snorted. " Who is so much older than her? Pirika, you're not _that_ desperate, are you?" he questioned. Pirika blushed. "Well, um… I meant his personality. Geez, you have a perverted mind," she huffed, making it seem as though he were the one with an unsuitable way of thinking. Ren's jaw dropped in protest. "Buh… But I never s…said so!" he stuttered adorably, a streak of red across his cheeks. Pirika grinned.

Soon, they reached her house. "HoroHoro must be… oh my gosh! We forgot to get a takeaway! He must be dead by now… oh great, it's already 5 pm…" She hurriedly opened the door, and saw not an unconscious but in fact, a contented HoroHoro sitting on the couch. " Yo! Can't believe you're so cruel as to let your brother starve. Never mind, Tamao offered to cook for me. She's in the kitchen now, making some soba. Help yourselves to some gyoza!" He gestured to the plate of Japanese dumplings on the coffee table. Pirika heaved a sigh of relief, and Tao Ren brushed past her to help himself to one. "Nice," he commented, once it was down his throat. "I'm going to check on Tamao," Pirika announced, and disappeared into the kitchen. HoroHoro nudged Tao Ren's elbow, acting almost chummy with him although he hated the almighty Tao. "So," he hissed in a low but audible (not to Pirika) volume, "you like my onei-chan?" Tao Ren shifted uncomfortably. " Don't understand what you're implying," he muttered under his breath. " You're in serious denial," HoroHoro sang, and cheerily reached for another gyoza.

"Don't tell Pirika," commanded Ren, glaring at HoroHoro. HoroHoro chuckled. "Yeah, right. She wouldn't believe me. Anyway, not as if she'll jump for joy upon hearing It." He told Tao Ren. Ren arched his right eyebrow. "Why not?" he asked. "Because she doesn't like you," HoroHoro bluntly replied. The almighty Tao was speechless for once. She…didn't like… him? His mind took minutes to register this fact. He could have said more, but left it at that.

"Soba ready!" yelled Pirika and Tamao in unison, appearing with plates of cold soba. Tao Ren cast a look at the cerulean- haired girl. Did she really not like him?


	4. umm

The question haunted Ren till the very next day. Dinner the night before had been eaten in content silence, with Ren pondering if it really was true that she didn't like him.

But then…what was it that he felt she felt when they had gone out for a meal and then a movie? Any ordinary person would have pointed out that she liked him and vice versa.

He decided to gather up some courage and ask her. Yes, he would set this thing straight once and for all, and find out the truth, bitter or not it may be.

"Yo, Ren!" she greeted with a cheerful smile, instantly brightening up the classroom. Ren gave a small smile. Okay, she greeted him with a beam – good sign number 1. "Hey, Pirika…" he started, but was cut off by the teacher demanding a proper good morning from his students. She cocked her head sideways, held up a hand to signify "wait", then after the entire class mumbled "Good morning" like a bunch of resurrected zombies, sat down and faced him. "Yup?"

Ren could feel his perspiration begin to gather on his forehead. 'Snap out of it!' he chided himself mentally. 'just say what you really feel.' "Uh… Pirika… are we – are we just friends?"

Pirika froze. Her smile morphed into a thin line as she carefully considered this question. She had to listen to her heart this time and not her head.

Did Ren have any feelings for her? Should she say no, wouldn't she be humiliated if he didn't feel for her what she thought she did for him?

Yes. She was beginning to crush on him. The once- detested Tao Ren.

It would be easier to lie… or to just say…"I don't know."

Immediately she could sense the disappointment radiating from him as he nodded. "Thanks for clarifying that," he muttered, and turned to face the front.

She pursed her lips, unsure of what to do next. Then she knew what her heart had wanted her to say all along.

"I meant," she said softly so that only Ren could hear, " that I don't know if I can stand being just friends with you."

_DONE!_


End file.
